Weeksvillage: Seniors First Housing

CAMBA Housing Ventures (CHV), based in Brooklyn, NY, engaged MASS Design Group and Starr Whitehouse landscape architects to design Weeksvillage, a successful proposal awarded for the transformation of underutilized land into 200 senior residential units in response to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Seniors First RFP on the Kingsborough Houses campus in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. 

Weeksvillage will provide dignified, elegant homes for seniors that will promote community and interaction rather than isolation, with supportive services fostering community engagement and promoting mental and physical health. The development of Weeksvillage is an opportunity to re-envision this portion of Kingsborough Houses to bring the NYCHA and Weeksville communities together in thoughtfully and flexibly designed spaces that empower seniors to live healthy and full lives. 

Aging in Community—our vision for the seniors of Weeksvillage—provides residents and neighbors with a community-based ecosystem to live well and thrive. Through affordable housing with access to healthy lifestyle amenities and enriching opportunities, Weeksvillage provides new homes and a stable environment in which seniors can age in community while creating new networks that support health, the maintenance of active lifestyles, and connections to family and neighbors.The project design supports seniors to lead independent, dignified, and fulfilling lives. 

Building amenities include a library with views to the city, a computer room, a fitness center, multiple outdoor small terraces, the Sun Deck — a large outdoor terrace with a Winter Garden — a large common indoor area, rooftop decks, and an exterior Loop and Activity Terrace. All interior and exterior pathways in Weeksvillage will meet and exceed accessibility standards for stairs, ramps, handrails, and sidewalks, and all sloped surfaces will have proper support, such as handrails, on both sides. The massing strategy of creating three staggered volumes allows for the creation of three neighborhood pods per floor, separated by common space with natural ventilation, to keep residents safely and socially connected.

The Community Facility spaces, building amenities, and on-site CAMBA supportive services will provide opportunities for senior residents and the community to take advantage of economic development, food access, healthcare access and culinary programming, bringing the community together in thoughtfully and flexibly designed spaces.

Leveraging $111 million in public and private investment, the design incorporates innovative community facility programming and essential residential services through an ongoing planning and development process to ensure that the project is responsive to the community’s needs. Weeksvillage will create a stable community for low-income and formerly homeless seniors at a range of incomes. The development will create new networks that connect residents and the community to health resources while supporting growth and opportunity, access to technology, and social connection.

Weeksvillage will be built to the Passive House building standard to attain a rigorous, quantifiable level of energy efficiency. The project will deploy Active Design, Fitwel, Enterprise Green Communities, and Passive House as tools to achieve lower operating expenses for both the building and residents while reducing impact on the environment and providing healthier buildings for the residents and neighborhood.